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Carolina cherry laurel or laurel cherry, Carolina laurelcherry, laurier amande

desert almond, desert peach

Habit Shrubs or trees, not suckering, 40–120 dm, not thorny. Shrubs, suckering unknown, much branched, 10–20(–30) dm, thorny.
Twigs

with terminal end buds, glabrous.

with axillary end buds, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent.

Leaves

persistent;

petiole 5–8 mm, glabrous, eglandular;

blade narrowly elliptic to elliptic or oblanceolate, 5–10 × 1.5–4 cm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins entire or spinose-serrate, sometimes undulate, teeth sharp, eglandular, apex usually acute to short-acuminate, sometimes obtuse-apiculate, apicula acute, surfaces glabrous, abaxial glandular, glands 2, proximal, flat, circular to oval.

deciduous; ± sessile;

blade narrowly elliptic, obovate, oblanceolate, or spatulate, 1–3 × 0.2–0.6 cm, base long-attenuate, margins usually serrulate, sometimes obscurely, teeth blunt, inconspicuously glandular, apex usually acute, sometimes obtuse, surfaces usually glabrous, sometimes puberulent.

Inflorescences

12–30-flowered, racemes;

central axes 13–30(–43) mm, leafless at bases.

solitary flowers or 2-flowered fascicles.

Pedicels

1–4 mm, glabrous.

(1–)4–12 mm, glabrous.

Flowers

usually bisexual, proximal sometimes staminate, blooming before leaf emergence;

hypanthium cupulate, 2.5–3 mm, glabrous externally;

sepals spreading, semicircular, 0.5–1 mm, margins usually entire, sometimes glandular-toothed, surfaces glabrous;

petals white, suborbiculate to elliptic, 1–1.5 mm;

ovaries glabrous.

blooming at leaf emergence;

hypanthium campanulate, 3–4 mm, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent externally;

sepals spreading, triangular, 1.5–2.5 mm, margins sparsely glandular-toothed, ciliate, surfaces glabrate;

petals usually dark pink, sometimes nearly white, elliptic, obovate, or suborbiculate, (5–)8–11 mm;

ovaries hairy.

Drupes

black, ovoid, 9–12 mm, glabrous;

mesocarps leathery;

stones ovoid, not flattened, usually splitting open.

greenish yellow to red-orange, globose to asymmetrically obovoid, compressed, 10–18 mm, base cuneate-stipitate, apex mucronate, densely puberulent;

hypanthium persistent;

mesocarps leathery to dry (often splitting);

stones ellipsoid to subglobose, ± flattened.

2n

= 32.

Prunus caroliniana

Prunus andersonii

Phenology Flowering Feb–Apr; fruiting May–Nov. Flowering Mar–May; fruiting Jun–Aug.
Habitat Stream bottoms, thickets, wooded uplands, maritime forests, naturalizing in urban woodlands Dry rocky slopes, washes, canyons, sagebrush scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands
Elevation 0–200 m (0–700 ft) 900–2600 m (3000–8500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; NV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Prunus caroliniana is a popular ornamental for screens and trimmed hedges and is widely planted in the southeastern United States because of its lustrous, dark green foliage persistent through the seasons. The species was probably common as a native plant on the southeastern barrier islands; most inland occurrences represent escapes from cultivation. It rarely escapes from cultivation in California.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Prunus andersonii inhabits the Great Basin Desert region of central and western Nevada, ranging westward into California to the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada from Modoc County south to Inyo County.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 9, p. 361. FNA vol. 9, p. 373.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Amygdaleae > Prunus
Sibling taxa
P. americana, P. andersonii, P. angustifolia, P. armeniaca, P. avium, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. emarginata, P. eremophila, P. fasciculata, P. fremontii, P. geniculata, P. glandulosa, P. gracilis, P. havardii, P. hortulana, P. ilicifolia, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. maritima, P. mexicana, P. minutiflora, P. murrayana, P. myrtifolia, P. nigra, P. padus, P. pensylvanica, P. persica, P. pumila, P. rivularis, P. serotina, P. speciosa, P. spinosa, P. subcordata, P. subhirtella, P. texana, P. tomentosa, P. umbellata, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
P. americana, P. angustifolia, P. armeniaca, P. avium, P. caroliniana, P. cerasifera, P. cerasus, P. domestica, P. dulcis, P. emarginata, P. eremophila, P. fasciculata, P. fremontii, P. geniculata, P. glandulosa, P. gracilis, P. havardii, P. hortulana, P. ilicifolia, P. laurocerasus, P. lusitanica, P. mahaleb, P. maritima, P. mexicana, P. minutiflora, P. murrayana, P. myrtifolia, P. nigra, P. padus, P. pensylvanica, P. persica, P. pumila, P. rivularis, P. serotina, P. speciosa, P. spinosa, P. subcordata, P. subhirtella, P. texana, P. tomentosa, P. umbellata, P. virginiana, P. yedoensis
Synonyms Padus caroliniana, Lauro-cerasus caroliniana
Name authority (Miller) Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 163. (1789) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 7: 337. (1868)
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